Castillo de San Marcos: A Self-Guided Tour of St. Augustine’s Old Fort

(7 reviews)

St. Augustine, Florida audio tour: Castillo de San Marcos: A Self-Guided Tour of St. Augustine’s Old Fort

This is an indoor tour

St. Augustine, Florida

The United States

$5.99

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About the Tour

Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. It’s also been attacked around a dozen different times in history but never been taken by the enemy in battle.

On this walking tour, you’ll learn about the history of the fort from pre-construction to the present day. If you're interested in learning more facts than you would on most tours, this in-depth guide to Castillo de San Marcos is the one for you.

Our tour begins at the entrance to the fort, Castillo de San Marcos Admission Center, where you’ll make a couple of brief stops outside before continuing inside to the Spanish guard rooms. From there, I’ll guide you into the courtyard to work your way clockwise through every available room.

Along the way, I’ll tell you about the different eras in St. Augustine’s history and how they affected the fort. You’ll make your way around the inside before heading upstairs to the gun deck where our tour will conclude. From the gun deck, you’ll get a fantastic vantage point on the inlet and waterways, and one-of-a-kind views of the whole city.

Along the way, you’ll also have a chance to:

Learn about the stone the Spanish called coquina and find out why it was perfect for building a fort
Imagine a day-in-the-life of a soldier stationed here and see where they would eat, sleep, and use the bathroom
Find out what the British called the Castillo during the era of their occupation
Hear about a daring escape when the fort was a prison for Native Americans during the 1800s
Climb to the gun deck and get your head around the types of weaponry used by the Spanish during their occupation, and enjoy the magnificent views

I’ve spent a lot of time in this fort, working as a tour guide and in the fort bookstore, and working as a volunteer presenting historic weapons demonstrations. I’ve picked up stories, facts and theories from park rangers, books, articles and websites and have done my best to condense this information into an audio tour so I can share this fascinating history with you.

Perhaps it’s your first visit to the fort, or you visited on your fourth grade field trip to St Augustine. Either way, this tour will offer an array of interesting facts and give you a greater appreciation for its role in our city’s history.

Allow approximately 1-1.5 hours for this tour. There are plenty of benches for breaks and bottled water available for purchase.

Tour Producer

Spyglass Travel

1 tour

Welcome and hello, my name is Angie Rose. I have been a tour guide in St Augustine, FL for almost 20 years. I am a History nerd and love sharing the true history of our town. I believed throughout most of my life that I wanted to be a teacher, turns out in a way... I am an educator - just without the classroom. Instead, I use the waterways, streets, buildings and surrounding areas to tell the stories of our town - his-story, her-story, it's all our story - it's our history.

Preview Location

Location 24

My Favorite Cannon

This is my favorite cannon so let’s stop here for a bit and talk about cannons. All the cannons here at the fort are real cannons, but not all the cannons were actually used here – some were brought from other places and put on display but they’re all from the right time peri... This is my favorite cannon so let’s stop here for a bit and talk about cannons. All the cannons here at the fort are real cannons, but not all the cannons were actually used here – some were brought from other places and put on display but they’re all from the right time period, all from the 1600s and 1700s. This cannon is in the courtyard just for display purposes. Cannons would have been used upstairs on the gun deck and would have all been on cannon carriages with wheels.

All the cannons at the fort and historically used at this fort were muzzle-loaders. This means everything is inserted inside the muzzle or the front of the cannon and pushed all the way to the back. In order to load and fire these cannons, you need those tools on really long poles that you have seen on display in several rooms throughout our tour.

All the cannons have a little hole on the top near the back – this is called a vent hole. See if you can find it.

Although it doesn’t look very important you cannot fire a cannon without this little hole. It is a direct opening from the outside of the cannon down into the inside barrel. Early on, soldiers would fill this vent hole with gunpowder and leave some on the top around the outside of the vent hole and you'll notice this cannon as a little built-in rimmed area just for this purpose. Later on, soldiers would use more of a fuse or wick instead of just loose gun powder but the effect would be the same - touching the match stick or bona fuego tool to either would ignite the gunpowder and the charge inside the barrel firing the cannon! BOOM!

This cannon is made out of bronze. Bronze is an alloy made of copper and tin giving it the blueish/greenish patina. For a weapon of destruction, I think it's really quite pretty. Let's continue on with our tour and we will talk some more about cannons upstairs on the gun deck.

Move towards the stairs at the front of the fort and stop at the small rooms under the stairs. There's a photo on your screen now. When you're in front of them, select the next track. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Castillo de San Marcos Admission Center
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

Getting There

Route Overview

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Start location
14h St George St, St. Augustine, FL 32084, USA
Total distance

418m
Final location
12 Avenida Menendez, St. Augustine, FL 32084, USA
Distance back to start location

0m

Directions to Starting Point

PLEASE NOTE - THE FORT CHARGES AN ENTRANCE FEE.
The tour begins near the ticket booth next to the entrance to the fort. Paid parking is available at the fort, although usually fills up quickly. City parking garage is another option, although about a block away.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

The fort bookstore has water available for purchase. There are restrooms and a water fountain located inside the fort.

Best time of day

The fort is open everyday from 9:00am - 5:00pm. It is usually less crowded early in the day. Occasionally during inclement weather, the Ravelin and the Gun Deck may be closed.

Precautions

There are narrow doorways and uneven floors inside the fort, please watch your step. As the fort is an historic structure, please be aware there is no handicap access to the gun deck.

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